In today’s episode, I will comment on five best practices for becoming a Thought Leader and an example you can put into practice regularly. I will also propose an exercise we can use to continue your journey together.

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Thought Leader or Influencer?

I think that before addressing the main topic, it is valid to point out that social media has allowed multiple roles to flourish in today’s world.

Let’s start by building some context around the difference between a Thought Leader and an Influencer.

On one hand, an Influencer typically focuses on (hopefully) honest reviews and telling others about relevant topics. At the same time, a thought leader is more focused on becoming the go-to expert in their field.

What is the difference between an Influencer and a Thought Leader?

While an Influencer is typically focused on reaching big audiences with a very focused message, a Thought Leader focuses on reaching a smaller audience but with a wider, more elaborate, interactive, and deeper message.

In both cases, their motivation is a mix of gratitude (giving back) and recognition.

Ok, Jose, any preference for these two roles?

No preference. I truly believe both roles are needed in today’s world.

And the recommendations?

Five Recommendations for becoming a Thought Leader

Becoming a Thought Leader requires both hard skills (area of knowledge) and soft skills (building effective communication with your audience).

1.     Develop Original Research

While many organizational leaders are focused on today (on now), thought leaders are focused on the past, present, and future.

• Past – building lessons learned and best practices.
• Present – getting exposed to new events and trends.
• Future – exploring, analyzing, and sharing thoughts about possible scenarios.

My point here is that you don’t need to be a scholar to improve this skill, but it is very useful to open your mind to opportunities to explore what-if scenarios.

2.     Create a point of view on important topics in your industry

In the same way, as you eat well and exercise regularly to improve your health, it is good advice to exercise your mental skills regularly. An effective way is by evaluating what-if scenarios and sharing opinions among peers and stakeholders.

Doing this regularly invites you to organize your ideas and build an effective message. This exercise is far beyond what you get by reading a book or listening to a podcast.

We often hear that professors learn a big way from their audience.

3.     Keep your audience updated on the latest news and development in the industry.

As we move into each topic, I hope you start appreciating the interconnection between them. Becoming a Thought Leader can be accelerated by having a “doing together” and “learning together” approach.

4.     Use a variety of channels to create a strong presence across platforms.

For many, like me, this is a real challenge: Gen X professionals had a handicap as they grew up in a physical-first society compared to Millennials and Gen Z professionals. They grew up in a digital-first society.

But we cover the gap by doing it. With or without formal training. One day at a time.

Set a goal. This is not about doing it right at once but about learning and perfecting your skills on a daily basis.

5.     Educating others.

Get exposed and look for opportunities for sharing thoughts.

One caveat: (Spoiler alert, funny comment)

Building trust is like kissing someone for the first time. You make a move, and if they like you, they accept the offer by kissing you back.

Ok, Jose, I got the message. May you give me an example of building opportunities in social media?

Example of Though Leadership Learning experiences

Many of you remember that last Wednesday I published a survey on LinkedIn asking the audience for their opinions on the likelihood that some Digital Transformation Disruptive Shift will happen no later than 2025, as originally predicted by the World Economic Forum back in 2015.

That survey is connected with today’s episode.

As of Sunday, 9/11, the survey was read by more than 400 professionals and responded by “only” five of them.

I think a good number of the readers started the mental exercise, but only a few completed the exercise by sharing their thoughts.

My goal was to invite all readers (Thought Leaders curious) to imagine a formal disruptive scenario and, by doing that, share their thoughts with the audience. There were no second intentions: No follow-up questions, and identities were kept anonymous.   Depending on the responses, it may open the door for a future episode where we can discuss recent events affecting the initial prediction.

I see, Jose, is the survey still open?

Yes, the survey is still open. You may vote here. (URL)

Can you build another opportunity for growing together?

Sure, Imagine that I select five disruptive events documented on the 2015 World Economic Forum Predictions survey that are probably relevant to the audience: Digital Acceleration and Digital Transformation trends. (there are twenty three disruptive events total)

Imagine that I publish a quick survey weekly, every Wednesday, on LinkedIn for everybody to participate.

Depending on the participation level, I may publish an episode with an update on the disruptive event.

Will that help? Let me know. Your feedback is welcome.

Good enough?

What are your thoughts on the subjects raised in this edition of the Digital Acceleration Newsletter?

Share them in the comments below, and if you have ideas about other topics you like to see covered in this newsletter, feel free to add those suggestions.